This volume is a lighthearted survey of some of the more fascinating animals and plants of the Similkameen River Watershed, in South-western British Columbia. Species selected are those with which the author has some personal experience. The book is now in print, and available for the price of $12.00 plus postage and handling.
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ISBN 0-9688864-0-X
SIMILKAMEEN WILDLIFE by M. Burbidge
1 INTRODUCTION 2
2 YOU NEVER CAN TELL WITH BEARS. 4
3 SIMILKAMEEN CORVIDAE. 9
4 DEATH IN THE GRASS. 14
5 BEAVERS AND RETRIEVERS 21
6 PRINCETON RAPTORS 36
7 ORCHIDS AND LILIES 49
8 THE HOWLS IS OWLING 55
9 PRINCETON MUSTELIDAE 65
10 SIMILKAMEEN ALIENS 76
11 A SERENADE OF COYOTES. 84
12 PRINCETON ODDBALLS 87
13 TREES OF THE SIMILKAMEEN
14 SINGERS AND BITERS
15 THE PROBLEM WITH MUSHROOMS
16 BIRDMANSHIP 104
17 A VISITOR TO HEDLEY 106
1 INTRODUCTION
This is not a book recounting episodes of high life in the Golden Nugget Pub or the Coalmont Hotel,
fascinating as those might be. Rather it is a leisurely survey of a number of creatures which inhabit the
wilderness around Princeton, British Columbia. With a few exceptions, the animals and plants
described herein have been chosen because the author has some personal acquaintance with them, and
is fond of them. It must be emphasized that I am no expert, merely a casual observer, and so am
willing, indeed eager, to be corrected by someone who knows more than I do about a creature or a
plant.
The aim of the book is to present, to readers who are not experts, some stories and descriptions which
might pique their interest in the natural world of this beautiful area. If what follows prompts a reader to
investigate the wilderness more thoroughly and to know and enjoy its inhabitants more deeply, then the
book will have achieved its purpose.
The beasts and blooms mentioned in this volume are native to the watershed of the Similkameen River,
which rises in the Cascade Mountains in Manning Park, and flows down to the border between British
Columbia and the United States. On the way, it is enhanced by flows from the Pasayten, Tulameen,
and Ashnola Rivers, and by numerous creeks, such as Copper, Whipsaw, Allison, Hayes, Wolfe and
Hedley Creeks. The watershed includes the towns of Princeton, Tulameen, Coalmont, Hedley and
Keremeos. The topography varies between the high alpine meadows and forests of the Cascade and
Ashnola Ranges, the broad and rolling Lodgepole Pine forests of the Thompson Plateau, and the lower
Ponderosa Pine slopes and open rangelands, which gradually change, as one proceeds down river from
Hedley, into dry Sagebrush haunts for Rattlers and Cactus. It is a wonderfully varied area, with many
hiking trails and quiet roads to tempt the curious.
Those who do become interested in exploring the wilds around the Similkameen Valley, might be well
advised to pick up a companion volume to this book, THE SIMILKAMEEN HIKING GUIDE, a
description of a series of hikes which can be taken within the area, prepared by members of the
Vermilion Forks Field Naturalist Society.
The contents of this book have been proofed by various people who provided invaluable insight and
information. Any errors must be attributed solely to the author.
This book is dedicated to Fred Baker, a long-time resident of the Princeton District, whose knowledge of the wildlife of the area was vast, and generally couched in humourous terms. He spent a lifetime investigating the curious ways of the denizens of this province, and my debt to him is immeasurable.
See next page for chapter 2
2 YOU NEVER CAN TELL WITH BEARS
When I was a child, growing up in the wilds of eastern Manitoba, bears had a conflicting image. On the
one hand, they were represented by Winnie-the-Pooh, Teddy, and Paddington, who were invariably
benign, cuddly and amiable. On the other, the forests around our home were said to be infested with
ferocious black monsters, who devoured unwary and disobedient children, and made woodland hiking
a hazardous experience; but they were exciting, and they added greatly to the magic and mystery of
nature.
Since those days I have encountered a good many bears, and each encounter has been a pleasure
enhanced by a hint of menace. I confess I like them--- their antics, their unpredictability, their bizarre
tastes in food, and their aura of the wilderness. While I have hunted most of our wild game, I have
never hunted bears; killing one would seem too much like slaughtering an old friend.
Since I grew up in a land of lakes and rivers, my first sightings of Ursus americanus were from a canoe.
They were less wary when approached by water, and we could observe them leisurely as they
wandered along the shore, investigating everything from dead fish, which they appeared to relish, to
bags of garbage, which they found fascinating. They ate just about anything. I recall seeing one big
bruin climbing up some flowering pussy willows until the trunks bent over in an arch, setting him down
with a thump on his rump. He held on in that position, munching on pussy willows with gusto.
Another time we watched one devouring great heaps of May Flies washed up on the shore. These are
the flies with the upright, triangular shaped wings, which come out in hordes over the water in June, but
nowhere in such quantities in the west as in the east, where their numbers are legion---they gather in
clouds around street lamps near water. May Flies are members of the family 'Ephemeridae', so called
because their lives as adults are ephemeral--they live but a day or so, and since they have no digestive
tracts, they waste no time eating, but spend their adult lives eagerly mating ( a short life, but sweet, one
might say). Then they perish, wash up on the shore in windrows, and the masses of corpses look for all
the world like soggy rice krispies. Bears love them.
They also love blueberries and compete with humans for the harvest, although I have never heard of
them being aggressive when such bounty is plentiful. Another favourite is Oregon Grape berries, of
which we have an abundance on the bank across the pond before our house. Every year we watch
single bears and moms with cubs devouring them eagerly; when they have enough, they tend to loll in
the sun, and snort at our dogs.
And, as all the world knows, they love honey. When I first brought a couple of hives to my small farm,
I thought I could protect them by placing them inside one of those metal garden sheds, with a small hole
for an exit. I came back to find that a bear had torn a whole sheet of metal off the side, and had left a
trail of discarded frames of honey and brood all the way up the mountain to some secret haven. Total
devastation!
My response was to set new hives inside a barb wire fence attached to a bear shocker, such as are
used to keep cattle in a pasture. I have never had any trouble since. At first I took the precaution of
hanging bits of bacon on the wire, on the presumption that, if the first part of the bear to touch the wire
was its wet and tender tongue, it would be immediately discouraged. (My dogs hate me for this) It
seems to work--I once came back to find a huge bulge in a chain link fence opposite the bear wire, and
assume that a big bruin touched the bacon, then the wire, and backed up with great speed, putting the
bulge in the chain link with its posterior.
I understand, however, that such shocks don't always work. I heard from a fellow bee keeper that he had watched a bear gingerly nosing around an electric fence for awhile. Bruin then retreated about ten yards off up a slight hill and charged the wire headlong, smashing it in and reaping a rich harvest. You never can tell with bears.
But while I have been lucky with my bees, apples are another matter. Every fall assorted bears appear to reap my crab apples, which they seem to much prefer over Macs and Spartans. I tried bear spray once on a bear which was happily munching away up the crab apple tree, but I forgot the law of gravity, and about half of the spray drifted back down on me. Now I fire a shotgun off over their heads. Some are remarkably unconcerned, while others panic. One came down from the top of the tree so quickly that it hit the ground with a thump right beside our beagle, who was fossicking around below. Both departed in opposite directions.
I have discovered that our native Black Bear, while commonly a fine glossy black (frequently covered
in burrs), actually comes in a variety of shades. Some of the black ones have a patch of white at the
throat. Some are brown, like the average teddy bear, and I have seen a beautiful cinnamon mother
bear, with a chocolate brown cub in tow. I have also seen a pure white Black Bear wandering along
the road in Jasper Park, and there are those whitish Kermode Bears which I understand are a colour
phase of Ursus americanus. The only other bear we have in B.C. is the famous Ursus horribilis, the
Grizzly, but I have never had much chance to observe them.
I was brought up to fear bears, but I confess that none have ever offered to do me any harm at all, even
mothers with cubs. They have whoofed at me, often from up in trees, and they chase my dogs when
they are pestered by them. A few have stood their ground and regarded me warily and with great
curiosity, but most take to their heels when they see me. I know full well that every now and then they
can be aggressive, and that they have mauled people, usually after they have found that humans can be
a rich source of food------ garbage, campsites, or handouts from tourists in parks. However statistics
show that if you are to be mauled or slain by a wild animal, (a remote possibility to be sure) it is far
more likely that your demise will be caused by a deer or a moose, and then only because you hit it with
your car. So I have never subscribed to the popular view that any wild animal which poses the slightest
risk to humans must be eliminated.
I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to our encounters with bears every fall, and don't begrudge them a
few apples. The reason I moved back to the country was to experience nature, and I view with
resentment those who experience a sense of heroic accomplishment from killing them . I am sorry to
relate that the cinnamon-coloured mother bear I mentioned was shot later in the season, and that the
chocolate brown cub, after wandering about crying for a couple of days, was also shot. I cannot say
whether the killer's motive was a noble desire to eliminate any threat, however remote, posed by a
savage beast to home and family, or alternatively, a mercenary desire to capitalize on the oriental
market for gall bladders and paws, which are said to enhance human sexual vigour. Now we have
viagra, perhaps more bears will survive, but I doubt it. Some folk just really enjoy killing things.
I agree, of course, with the claim that you can have too many bears, and that as humans encroach more
and more on their habitat, some may have to be removed. At present, however, it seems to me that we
are proceeding with the elimination bears more or less as an afterthought, as we continue to develop
their habitat for human purposes. At the current rate of destruction, they will soon be a thing of the
past, except for their prime billing in nature shows on television, or as advertising symbols.. I shall miss
them.
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